Shiny Bubbles
by Clannadlvr
Summary: Mal, Inara, hot water. It's not exactly what you think.


Title: Shiny Bubbles  
Author: clannadlvr  
Fandom: Firefly  
Pairing: Mal/Inara…of a sort  
Written for yanataya who wanted Mal and Inara in "very, very, very hot water"  
Rating: PG-13 for mild Chinese cursing  
Spoilers: Vague references to events from the show's full run.  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. This is strictly for entertainment purposes and no money is being made.  
A/N: For emmeredith's bubbleficathon

* * *

"Girls like shiny things, Cap'n."

"Inara has lots of shiny things already, Kaylee."

"Yeah…but she don't have any shiny things from you."

"Her gorram ship don't count?"

"You didn't give her that ship… she's rentin' in from ya. Ain't the same thing as giving a woman a bit of pretty."

Malcom Reynolds just sighed and threw his tired body into one of the chairs that filled the mess. Why he'd taken it into his head to get something for Inara's birthday he just couldn't understand. Maybe he'd felt a little guilty about calling her a whore all those times, but was driving himself crazy over finding a useless trinket really worth it?

Hell no.

But he'd made the mistake of mentioning his search for a birthday bauble to Kaylee and now she wouldn't let him let it go.

And when he really thought about it, it would be nice to see Inara's face light up when she realized he'd actually done something thoughtful. Well, after she picked herself up off the floor where she'd fainted in shock, he supposed. So his reluctance to give her a present wasn't for lack of wanting.

But the simple fact was that gift giving got a lot harder when you were in between worlds. It got even harder than that when you realized that the only shiny things in the cargo hold had were semi conductors and smuggled platinum toothpicks.

Somehow he thought Inara wouldn't see dental care as the gift that kept on giving.

Mal sighed again, closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair, trying to stretch his tired muscles.

Kaylee had been prattling on about possible gift ideas, but broke off at his sigh. Mal cracked open one lid and saw her worried expression.

"You ok, Cap'n?"

"Just tired. And sore from carrying the feed bags in the last run we did. What I wouldn't give for a long soak," he murmured, visions of a whirlpool bath filled with pulsating jets and a few scantily clad washer women for good measure. Oh, to live in daydreams...

Mal was so into his fantasy that he almost forgot she was there. He just nodded and said "uh-huh" as Kaylee went on about how it was a shame they didn't have a real tub on the ship because of resources and how it would be nice to rig one up on Serenity one day that wouldn't deplete her water supply.

He was jerked back to reality by Kaylee slapping him hard on the knee.

"What you'd do that for!" he yelled.

But Kaylee didn't seem to hear him. In fact, she was dancing around the mess like she'd just won a paycheck off an Alliance guard.

"That's it!" she squealed.

"Repeat that a little louder and a little higher, why dontcha?" Mal groused.

"Cap'n," Kaylee drawled, a delighted grin on her face. "Dontcha get it? That's the perfect present for Inara!"

"What?"

"A bath, Cap'n!"

"You really think Inara's gonna take it kindly if I suggest she needs to wash up?"

Kaylee gave Mal an indulgent look. "You just said yourself that a bath can help you relax. Relieve tired muscles and all?"

"I don't think I want to know why Inara has tired muscles right now."

"Well, from all the good sex she had two days ago planetside," Kaylee said innocently.

"Kaylee! I told you I didn't…wait, did you say good sex? She told you that?"

"Well, 'course not. Confidentiality with clients and all. But…you can tell when Inara's had a good appointment."

"You can?" Mal asked, a little too fascinated for his own comfort, but unable to stop his questions.

"Well, sure. First off there's that glowy thing she's got going on. And then there's the stiff way she walks after…"

"Gah! Ok, ok, I get it!"

Kaylee just grinned at him.

"So let me get this straight," Mal said. "You want to work on Serenity to get her to give us a bath system?"

Mal watched as she rolled her eyes. What? Hadn't she said she wanted to turn his ship into a…what did they call it…an auto-wash like on Earth That Was?

"Cap'n, those modifications will take me at least a week to make even if I had all the parts. And we're not gonna be planet side for a month!"

"So? She'll get her present late."

"Uh-uh," Kaylee shook her head. "First off, a birthday present don't mean squat if it comes along after the fact. It'll just look like you forgot all along and now you're tryin' to make up for it."

Ok, well, she did have a point. But what if he told Inara about it on her birthday and promised it to her when they got to Tarkus?

He said as much to Kaylee, but she was having none of it.

"You're forgetting the second point, Cap'n."

Now he was just getting aggravated. "How can I forget the second point when I haven't even heard it yet?" he groused.

Kaylee seemed to ignore his rant. "Second of all, if I'm doin' all the work on it, how is the present gonna come from you? Ain't that the point of a gift?"

Damn, she had a point again. "Well…" Mal drawled, "if I order you to do it, doesn't that mean it comes from me."

From the look Kaylee was giving him, it seemed like the answer to that was "no."

Mal threw his hands up in the air. "Then what in the hell do you want me to do instead, Kaylee? Drag a yúchûn tub into her shuttle, carry buckets of hot water all the way up from the core and fix it all up all by myself!"

Kaylee just grinned.

"Now I think you're getting' the idea of what's a proper present."

* * *

huff huff huff

Mal panted as he trudged up the stairs with the last of the buckets, cursing Kaylee and her ideas all the while. Inara damn well better appreciate this, what with him spilling the third bucket after tripping over one of those silly little feminine chairs in her shuttle and having to clean the mess up.

Oh, she better like it all right. Her face better light up like the sun over Antari…her face better be…

-Mal stumbled as Inara slammed the door open to her shuttle-

…not looking at him the way she was looking at him now.

* * *

She wasn't mad. No, mad wouldn't covey what she was feeling.

She was livid, enraged, apoplectic and a host of other colorful adjectives she'd learned during her days at the academy.

How dare he come into her shuttle when she was not inside! Hadn't she told him from the moment she rented it that unwelcome entry was strictly forbidden?

A few moments before, Inara had walked into her home and had noticed immediately that something was amiss. She'd only made it a few feet past the door when she saw the overturned settee, the tussled pillows, and one of Mal's overshirts laying on her couch.

Then she heard the familiar sound of his boots trudging up the stairs and she whirled around, slamming open the door.

"Why were you in my quarters!"

She watched as Mal's expression migrated from shock to guilt in a few moments, his surprise causing him to drop the bucket of water he'd been carrying right outside her door.

"Eeep!" Inara exclaimed as the water sloshed over the rim and onto the leg of her silk pants. "Now look what you've done! That's it. I'm locking myself inside my shuttle. I don't want to see your face until we reach the planet, understood?"

He just nodded dumbly at her.

Inara huffed, sweeping back through her door and slamming it behind her. As soon as she made it to the couch, she sank into its welcoming comfort, dropping her head into her hands. She knew she shouldn't let Mal's inconsiderate nature bother her so much, but she couldn't help it. This incident was just one more reason why she should go through with the decision to leave she'd made a few weeks before. She would tell him soon. Really. She would.

But in the meantime she needed to understand what sort of havoc he'd been wrecking in her shuttle.

She looked around, taking an inventory of the damage he'd done to her carefully arranged space. Nothing seemed like it had been destroyed, though there were a few water stains that were forming on her rugs that were going to be a nightmare to get out. What WAS he doing with water anyway?

She got up, rounding the couch to look for more clues. Then stopped dead. Tiānna! What was this old copper tub doing in her shuttle?

Inara approached it carefully, as if expecting it to jump out and bite her. But when she took a closer look, all she found was a slightly-less-than-steaming tub of water with a container of bath salts perched on the ledge.

He'd drawn her a bath?

Inara raced back to her shuttle door and threw it open. As she suspected, Mal was still there, pacing in the hallway. His head snapped in her direction.

"Inara…" he began.

"Wait," she said, holding up a hand regally. "You drew me a bath?"

"Yeah, I uh…well, what I mean to say is…oh hell." Mal seemed to give up in frustration. "Happy Birthday, all right?"

Mal had drawn her a bath for her birthday. Mal. The man who was more comfortable in a gun fight than a parlor room. The man who called her a whore one moment and almost died in a duel trying to protect her honor in the next. The man who seemed to delight in vexing her by day and haunting her dreams at night.

"I…I'm sorry," Inara said. But she couldn't help but add, "Though you do know that you still broke the rules by breaking into my cabin."

"Breaking in…" Mal began. "Now hold on one gorram second. I own this shuttle!"

"Mal, are you really going to ruin the wonderful moment you've created through giving me a birthday gift by rehashing the same old argument?"

Mal fell silent.

"Would you like to come in for a moment?" she asked.

He nodded silently and followed her inside.

She settled herself on the couch and watched as he wandered restlessly through the cabin. It seemed to her that Mal's lovely gesture had put him on edge. Truth be told, it had done the same to her, but she had training to conceal her mixture of unease and delight.

Mal broke the silence with one of his typical non sequiters.

"What's that over there," Mal asked, pointing to a part of the shuttle she'd cordoned off with a Chinese screen.

"Oh, nothing important, just companion supplies."

From the way Mal's eyes gleamed, Inara wasn't sure that was the right thing to say. Usually a comment of that would have garnered her at least a few thinly veiled insults about her profession. But it seemed that his discomfort with her reception of his gift was only compounded by her statement. He mumbled something about having to talk with Wash about new coordinates and made for her shuttle door.

But not before she got in the last word. "Mal?" she called, stopping him right before he stepped into the hall. He looked back it her.

"This was a lovely present. Very thoughtful. I….thank you."

He gave her a small smile and was out the door before she could say another word.

Inara allowed her lips to quirk up slightly at Mal's modesty before looking at the tub again. The slight smile turned into a sigh. She walked over to the Chinese screen, folding it back to reveal its contents: a self heating, energy independent whirlpool bath. A gift from her latest client, she hadn't had a free moment to enjoy it what with River's latest spell that had sent the cargo hold into shambles. The whole crew had pitched in to help and for the past two days since they'd left the planet, she'd toppled into bed exhausted each night without giving a thought to her new acquisition. Tonight was to be the night she was going to give it a try.

She hadn't wanted Mal to know about it, considering that his gesture was quite sweet and she didn't want her bath to seem like an insult. It was certainly more luxurious than the simple copper tub the captain had filled for her. Inara started to slip off her robe and prepared to turn on the dials on the tub when she stopped herself. She surveyed its clean lines and padded arm rests, its buttons for scent infusions and skin moisturizers. And then before she knew it, her gaze settled on the copper tub with its harsh angles and flat surfaces.

Her choice was a simple one.

Letting her robe drop all the way to the floor, she eased a toe, then her whole foot into the cooling water. Her thin frame settled in next, trying to find the most comfortable position. As she bunched up her robe to place behind her head, protecting her neck from the lip of the copper tub, she could only think of one thing:

She'd never had a better bath.

* * *

translations: (snagged from taraljc's amazing firefly site)

yúchûn- stupid

Tiānna! – Oh God


End file.
